Djokovic cruises to fifth Paris Masters title

Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates winning against Canada's Denis Shapovalov during their men's singles final tennis match at the Paris Masters indoor tennis tournament in Paris on November 3, 2019. Christophe Archambault/AFP

PARIS — Novak Djokovic eased to a record-extending fifth Paris Masters title by brushing aside Canadian youngster Denis Shapovalov in Sunday's final, boosting his hopes of taking the year-end world number one spot.

The top seed claimed a dominant 6-3, 6-4 victory over his 20-year-old opponent, who looked nervous after being the beneficiary of Rafael Nadal's withdrawal before their scheduled semi-final.

Djokovic will lose top spot in the rankings to Nadal next week, but could still equal Pete Sampras' record by finishing a sixth year as the world's best player.

The 33-year-old Nadal is a fitness doubt for the ATP Tour Finals, which start in London on November 10, due to an abdominal muscle strain, while Djokovic has won the season-ending championships five times.

Djokovic, who lost to Russian Karen Khachanov in last year's Bercy final, saved the only break point he faced as he sealed his fourth win from as many matches against the world number 28 Shapovalov.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion has now won 34 Masters titles, moving to within one of Nadal at the top of the all-time list, and 77 on the ATP Tour in total.

It was Djokovic's fifth trophy of the season after previous triumphs at Wimbledon and the US Open, as well as at the Madrid Open and in Tokyo. — Agence France-Presse